Coaches handle holidays differently

Prep Basketball

For a week, Prince Avenue girls coach Richard Ricketts doesn't want to see his team.

The Lady Wolverines coach isn't tired of his players already - far from it. He just wants to let them enjoy their Christmas break and get back to basketball after the holidays.

"A lot of these girls do more than one sport," Ricketts said. "They are mentally tired from exams and AP classes and all of that kind of stuff. They need a break. They are high school kids. You can overdo it and hurt them mentally."

Prince Avenue played its last game for more than a week on Friday, a 49-33 loss at Athens Academy. The Lady Wolverines will not play again until Dec. 28 at the Walnut Grove Holiday Tournament.

All area teams will be playing their last games before breaking for the holidays early this week if they hadn't already done so over the weekend.

The two-week winter break in the middle of the season is a complication each coach has to deal with each season.

Each coach has their own philosophy on how to handle that break.

Ricketts is giving his team all of this week off and will resume play and practice the following Monday.

"Breaks are easy when you win the last one," Ricketts said. "They are a little harder when you have to stew on one for awhile."

After more than three decades coaching the Jefferson boys team, Bolling DuBose has developed a strategy to keep his team from gathering too much rust during the break - intermittent practices.

The Dragons played their last game for 10 days on Friday, a 56-54 loss to Jackson County. DuBose is going to give his players eight days off during the school's 17-day break, but he doesn't want them to go too many days in a row without some kind of practice.

"We try not to go more than four or five days without practice," DuBose said. "I tell them every year that family is most important, and I'm dead serious about that. But I also say that we can't take a week and a half off. In my experience, if you let them have more than five days off in a row, it is like starting over."

DuBose said that his team won't practice or play from Wednesday until Christmas, but will be back in the gym immiediately following the break.

He added that his players will likely be doing a lot of running to get back into shape.

While dealing with the break can be difficult, DuBose said there is no point stressing about it.

"It is the same for everybody," the coach said. "It's not like you can complain about it."

Like DuBose and Ricketts, Athens Academy boys coach James Banks puts a heavy emphasis on spending time with family and relaxation over the break.

"I tell them to get away and focus on family," Banks said. "I want them to spend some quality time with loved ones, maybe watch some quality basketball on TV. I want them to get away from the game and totally relax."

The Spartans will play Taliaferro County on Monday, a makeup game from earlier in the season, and will then take the rest of the week off. Banks will have them back on the court on Dec. 26.

Two days later, they will return to competition in a tournament at East Jackson. Banks said post-Christmas tournaments help his team get back into shape before resuming region play.

"It works for us," the Spartans coach said. "These guys have been going at it for awhile because some are two- or three-sport athletes. They need a break. It comes with the territory."